Dr. Muhammad Hameed, Chairman Department of Archaeology, University of the Punjab was invited by the prestigious and historic academic institutions of the United Kingdom During a recent visit to England, Dr. Muhammad Hameed visited The University of Oxford and had a very productive meeting with Professor Prof Peter Stewart, Director, Classical Art Research Centre, Professor of Ancient Art, University of Oxford/ Wolfson College, Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies

Professor Pete has been working on the project. “Gandharan Connections” and has organized four annual workshops focusing on different aspects of Gandharan Studies. Dr. Muhammad Hameed also participated in the recent workshop and presented his research work on the topic “The Lost Buddhist Heritage of Gandhara”. During the recent meeting, Dr. Muhammad Hameed briefed Professor Peter about the developments of the Department of Archaeology and discussed future collaboration between both institutions.

Dr. Muhammad Hameed visited Department of History, Religions and Philosophies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and met Professor Dr Peter Flügel, Chair, Centre of Jaina Studies. At SOAS, Dr, Hameed delivered a talk on his research about Jainism in Pakistan. The title of the talk was, Insights into the Jain Archaeology, Art and Architecture of Pakistan: Lahore Chapter. The research work explored and highlighted the potential of Jainism and Jain heritage in Pakistan. In the follow-up session, both institutions agreed to collaborate and work on joint ventures.

In the last phase, Dr. Muhammad Hameed visited Department of Archaeology, The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge and attended Three days’ workshop on ARCHAEOLOGY AND HERITAGE IN PAKISTAN: RECENT WORK AND ADVANCES IN THE FIELD Organized by the Department. Dr. Hameed talked about Recent Developments in the Mapping of Archaeological Heritage – An Overview of our Survey of Lahore. The visit to Cambridge was in connection with the joint project The Mapping of Archaeological Heritage in South Asia (MAHSA). The project will document the endangered archaeology and cultural heritage of the Indus River Basin and the surrounding areas and publish this information in an Open Access geospatial database. This database will be a collaborative output that will serve as the primary mapping resource and research repository for the archaeological and endangered cultural heritage of the Indus River Basin and the surrounding areas. It will aspire to become sustainable by being the default management database for local heritage stakeholders. Professor Dr Cameron Petrie Reader in South Asian and Iranian Archaeology, Fellow of Trinity College, Department of Archaeology

University of Cambridge is the Project leader and Dr. Muhammad Hameed, from Department of Archaeology, University of the Punjab is one of the international collaborators of MAHSA project.